Saturday, July 9, 2011

Gender 101: The Female-Only Assumption of Innocence

by Connie Chastain*

The Internet is abuzz with the Casey Anthony verdict and I'm not really surprised to see that I'm not the only one viewing the murder of little Caylee, the trial and the verdict in light of feminism's influence on western culture. Being a rightwing extremist, I tend to agree with those who assign feminism a great deal of responsibility for social pathologies such as those demonstrated in this case.

One of the best columns I've read connecting our culture's callousness toward children and the feminist sacrament of abortion is found at the ultra-right American Thinker. In an article titled The Bitter Fruit of Caylee's Death, author Jeannie DeAngelis makes many salient points, but one that really struck me was this: Many murdering mothers are acquitted, "... which is indicative of a chilling truth that a mother murdering her own child is not nearly as offensive anymore as a child being murdered by a stranger. Who can deny this has a direct connection to the approbation our society gives to women who rid themselves of their child before birth?

And who believes, as I do, that this story would have unfolded iquite differently n the media if a man had been accused of murdering little Caylee? We would be subjected to unending diatribes about the violence of men against women and children.

Would be? We are, constantly. Although in recent years, it has become known that women instigate domestic violence against men, male victims are given little sympathy by society and violence perpetrated by females against males given scant attention. Women are badly injured, while men aren't hurt all that bad. Men who abuse are controllers and manipulators. Women who abuse are ill or disturbed. This is also true for mothers who murder.

I'm not saying there aren't any bad men. There are. But under feminist influence our society doesn't acknowledge the occasional bad man; it identifies maleness itself as bad, even though the vast majority of men do nothing wrong. Women, on the other hand, are basically good and decent and occasionally do bad things through little or no fault of their own.

This is the premise behind claims of rape culture. It is feminists holding men who do not rape responsible, in some measure, for those who do. It is the premise behind excuses given to women who falsely accuse men of rape. And it is why I believe things would have gone down very differently had the accused in Caylee's murder been a man.

However, as with so many other feminist assertions palmed off on our culture, this one has a reliable and realistic counter assertion that neutralizes the assumption of male evil. I'm talking about the Bureau of Justice Statistics charts on Child Maltreatment -- Fatalities by Perpetrator Relationship, 2003. The charts clearly indicate that mothers only are the perpetrator in 30.5% of cases, fathers only in 18.2%

Now let me make it clear that I don't know whether Casey Anthony murdered her child and I'm not going to try to second guess the jury. But that's not my point, anyway. My point is that feminism has skewed the application of justice based on their victim-view of human history and an obsessive drive to get even for oppression that's largely imaginary.

Until we come to our senses, men can expect continued demonization, and excuses will be made for women who commit crimes, even the most heinous.